Beware Green Lightening
by Alma Theresa
Summary: Every comic book I ever read strictly warns to stay AWAY from anything that glows an eerie green...it normally means it's radio active or has some freaky mojo going on. But of course, me being an idiot...I can't.
1. Beware Green Lightening

(_**Warning!!**_:Story name subject to Change...)

...Rated for language, themes, violence, and future chapters...

_Okay, let me tell you this right now. I am still currently playing Devil May Cry 4, but I am progressing very well (considering that I have to run over and bum it off my friend because I am lame, poor, and do not own a PS3 or a X-Box 360…) And while the character in this story has a PS3, I do not, and I am only lucky to have seen one owned by a friend of mine. (He treated that thing like a freakin' god idol though…)_

_Anyway, even though I am still playing the game, I have cheated and looked online, found many of the cut-scenes on YouTube, and let my friends who have already beat the game tell me what happens and guide me through my new Fanfic._

_I will continue to play the game and gain more knowledge as time goes by, so expect more of the games to be associated with this story!_

_Thank you again for your patients, and I hope you enjoy this newest Devil May Cry story._

_~Alma Theresa_

---

1

Beware Green Lightening

"You're too old to be playing these silly games!" my mother snapped at me, shutting off the TV and standing in front of me.

I gaped, "_Mom!_ You can't do that! I'm about to beat the boss and—" trying to explain this to my mom would take forever, and I already felt my controller vibrate and then there was nothing, so I knew I was dead. Dammit…now I would have to do it all over again! I glared at her, "I can play the games if I want to, mom! I like them!"

My mother was a hefty woman with black hair. She and my dad had gotten a divorce a few years ago, and my mother had gotten me. She had swore up and down that she was going to "raise me right", making it sound like my dad had done a bad job with how he raised me.

"You're a young lady, Sydney," Mom said, "You shouldn't be playing such violent and…and…_evil_ video games!" she looked at the case for my Playsation3 version of "Devil May Cry 4: Collectors Edition". "No, you're going to get rid of all of these right now! I will not have them in my house!" she threw the case into the garbage and I let out a horrified yell.

"_Mom!_ D-Don't you dare!" I didn't even think much about it as I dug into the trash and fished out the case, getting a damp rag to clean it off.

I heard her start to pull at the wires on my PS3 and I flipped out, "Stop it! Stop it, Mom! Leave it alone!" I went over and yanked the wires from her, "This was a gift from Dad!"

"Get rid of it!" my mother ordered, "Or I will! I don't want you playing this _thing_ anymore!" she pointed to it, "And you'll throw out all of those evil games too! And I'm going to send you to a private school! All girls, like I did. A nice, Christian school," she nodded, "That'll teach you to be a respectable young woman."

I glared at my mother, shooting to my feet and shouting, "I'm not going to some _snobby_ school where they'll teach me to be some _snobby_ bitch! And I'm _not_ about to throw away my things just because you don't want me to have any reminder of dad! Just because you hate him doesn't mean I have to, y'know!!"

My mother glared at me, "How _dare_ you talk to me that way, Sydney!"

"I'll talk however I damn well please," I yelled, "I'm seventeen years old, mom! I can decide what I want to do, who I want to be with, and what I want to do with my stuff!"

My mom looked like she was about to turn into a steamed lobster, her cheeks so red and eyes so wide that it would've been comical if her anger wasn't directed at me. "That is it!" she shouted at me, "Tomorrow, I'm going to throw out all of this…_crap_ and you'll never see it again!! I'll make sure that you never, _ever_ have bring anything like this into my house again, do you hear me!?! _NEVER!!_" she stormed up the stairs, leaving me alone in the den.

I scowled after her, though I felt kinda bad for doing that. But it was bound to happen; it was just kinda funny that it happened over my game. I sat back down on the couch. My mom and I had been at odds since the divorce. My dad had fought tooth and nail to get me, but in the end, my mom won. My wanting to stay with my dad didn't mean anything when my mom brought up his gambling and drinking habits. My dad wasn't a bad man…it was just the whole "old habits die hard" thing.

I rubbed my temples as I listened until I heard the local country music station play, knowing that my mom was now trying to calm down, and then I relaxed a bit. Outside though, Mother Nature was fuming. I heard thunder rolling in and saw, through the slightly opened curtains, lighting flashing in blackened night sky. It was going to be a rough storm…but it wasn't here yet. And like my mom, I had my own ways of getting rid of my stress.

I made sure she hadn't broken anything (and my PS3 was so expensive that I doubt I could replace it, so I treat it like my child) and then fired it back up. I picked up far from where I left off, but I was back into the boss battle in a few minutes. It took me forever to get where I was just before my mom cut me off. Nero was half-dead at this point, but only a few more hits and the boss would be history!

But then something happened…something horrible happened…

_My game froze!_ I tried pressing buttons but nothing seemed to work, so I stood up and went over to my PS3 and started to mess with the wires and tap on it, hoping to jog it back up.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a green flash coupled at the same time with the loudest clap of thunder I had ever heard. All the lights in my house went out, and for a moment, I was surrounded by one of my worst fears…the dark…

I almost hyperventilated when there was an eerie, bright green glow that illuminated the dark. At that point, I had stood up and tried to make a dash for the stairs to find my mom, but I stopped to look over my shoulder.

My eyes were wide with a mixture of awe and shock. My Playstaion3 was…_glowing_! It was glowing a dark green color, lighting up the entire room with a ghostly glow. My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I looked up at the stairs. Now that the power was out, I could hear my mother snoring loudly. She must've fallen asleep; I had been playing the game for about half an hour…

She wouldn't be any help on finding out what was wrong with my Playstaion. So I decided I'd just…have to find out on my own…

I know common sense says _not_ to touch the weird glowing thing…but…this was my _Playstaion3!_ How the hell could I just leave it alone!? I mean, my dad spent good money on getting it for me, and I spent good money on getting the game that was inside it! I wasn't about to forfeit _either_ of those things!

Hesitantly, I knelt in front of it and swallowed. I wondered if it was from that green flash (which I assumed must've been some kind of weird lightening) that it was glowing like that. Was it radio active? An image of me becoming some game-station based super hero came to mind, but that only made me think that I read _way_ too many of my dad's old retro comic books…

Despite my better judgment, (and every comic book I read that specifically tells you _never go near anything that glows green_!) I reached out…and pressed the power button…

There was a white flash and I felt myself being sucked through a strange vortex of wind. I chocked and grasped my throat, unable to breathe as I flew through what felt like space, unable to see past the blinding white light.

And then, in a rush, I collided with hard ground. My head hit against something and I heard a grunt. I took in a rasping breath and rolled over onto my side, holding my throat as I hacked and tried to steady my breathing, more scared than anything else from my near suffocation.

I heard someone shout at me, but I was busy watching the colors dance before me, being swallowed up quickly by…big black spots…

--

"That's one nasty bump she's got there…" said a rough voice.

"Where did you find her?" said an emotionless, yet female voice.

"I've been _trying_ to tell you that!" said a new voice, "I _didn't_ find her! She fell on me!" it was younger than the other voice, but like it, it was male.

"She looks like she's been through hell though," said the female, and I felt a hand on my brow, "I'm glad we stopped the bleeding. I think it's only a cut though, she should be okay once she wakes up."

"Where do you think she came from?" said the first voice, "Girls like her don't just fall outta the sky…that only happens in my dreams…"

"I'm not even going to ask," said the third voice with an annoyed sigh.

I groaned and tried to roll over, hoping I was just having a noisy dream and I could just block it out and go back to sleep. Instead, they got louder.

"Hey! She's moving!" said the first voice.

"Is she awake!?" said the third.

"Hush, you two!" snapped the woman, "She has a head injury, remember?" I felt the hand that had been on my head move to my shoulder, "Are you awake, young lady?" asked a soft voice.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. And then they stayed open. It took some time for the blur to fade away, but I knew the outlines already. I could hardly see anything other than the three people standing over me. Two had silver hair and blue eyes, one had white-blonde hair and green eyes. I screamed and shot up, pulling myself over the back of the couch (which I had been sleeping on, it would seem) and trying to make a break for the door.

Half way there, I stumbled and fell onto my side, my head spinning and making me feel sick. I moaned and tried in vain to stand up again, and failed again.

"Hold it right there, little miss prissy pants," said the first voice, older than the other one as he grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet, "I my not be a doctor, but I doubt that you want to be running around in your condition." He flashed a rather charming smile at me, making me blush and my legs feel even weaker.

"Dante," said the younger man, coming up and yanking my other arm so that I fell against his chest, "Leave the poor girl alone! Can't even let her heal up before you decide to flirt with her? She has to be half your age!"

"Ah, can it, Nero," the man turned and waved his arm at him, "I was only foolin'."

"The two of you are like brothers," said the woman as she walked up and took me from the other man, "Come, sit down before you make your injuries worse."

"You've never been so nice to people, Trish," chuckled the older man as he sat behind a familiar looking desk, putting his feet up as he chewed on what looked like a pretzel stick, "What gives?"

The woman glared and looked at me, "I'll get you some water. You two, don't bother her…"

"Yes sir, drill sergeant, sir!" the older man saluted her as she walked past him. He chuckled as he pulled a magazine off his desk and opened it.

The other man came up to me, "So, what's with you dropping out of the sky onto my stomach, huh?" he crossed his arms, "Trying to commit suicide and failing?"

I hardly heard his question. _Dante? Nero? Trish?_ I looked around the room, recognizing it finally…recognizing the faces, the weapons on the walls, the couch I was sitting on, even the magazine the man at the desk was reading!

_"OHMYGOD!!"_ I screamed, my palms to my face as all three of the people in the room stared at me _"I'M IN MY FUCKING VIDEO GAME!!"  
_

_----_

Okay, so this was chapter 1. In the next one, I'll introduce this character properly, by name, so you'll get who's talking.

Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think!

~Alma Theresa


	2. Nero

2

Nero

Dante and Nero sat on either side of me of the large black leather sofa. I sat very straight, my cheeks a bright red, biting my lip. Dante lounged rather with his…ahem…legs apart while Nero sat forward, rubbing the bridge of his nose after I had tried to explain to the two of them where I came from…and how I got here.

"So, you're saying, in your world," Trish, who was sitting on the corner of the desk, began, "We are all a _video game_?" she waved her hand around, indicating to Dante, Nero, herself, everything in general really.

I nodded stiffly.

"And that you were playing this game when your Playstaion was struck by _green lightening…_and then it started to _glow…_" Nero added, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

I nodded stiffly again.

"And you, being a stupid kid," Dante said, looking at me with an amused smirk, "Went and _touched_ said glowing Playstaion and awoke to find yourself here."

I nodded again.

Trish, Dante, and Nero all exchanged glances. Nero then leaned back and pushed aside my red-gold hair to feel my forehead, "I think she might have hit her head harder than we thought…" he said.

"I think so too," agreed Dante, "I mean, who the hell can have a big enough imagination to dream up _me_?" Dante said, straightening and looking very egotistical.

I glared and smacked Nero's hand away, "I'm _not_ making this up!" I said to Dante in a sharp tone, "And I'm _not_ hallucinating!" I said just as sharply to Nero, "It's true! My name is Sydney Webbers, I'm from freakin' Florida!" I snapped.

Dante leaned forward, looking past me to Nero, "Um…do they have mental hospitals in Fortuna City?"

"I'm _not_ crazy!" I shot to my feet and pointed at Dante, "You have a twin brother named Vergil who, after you defeated him, remained in hell while you returned with your half of the amulet that your mother gave you! Once outside, you returned the gun you borrowed from Lady and you said, 'I hope there isn't a late return fee', and then you cried about loosing your brother which is why you named this shop _Devil May Cry!_"

Dante's eyes widened in shock, mouth opening and then closing, unable to make words.

I turned on Nero next, "_You_ were raised by a cult of Sparda worshipers called the Order of the Sword! When Dante showed up and killed your main man, you thought he was a bad guy but it turned out your holy man wasn't dead and that he was really behind it all, and he nearly killed both you and the girl you like, Kyrie, who you felt you let down by letting her get captured in the first place!" Nero looked just as shocked as Dante did, "And then, when you defeated the false Sparda, you told Kyrie that it was possible that you weren't human anymore, but she told you that you were more human than anyone she ever knew!"

"Aww…" Dante looked at Nero, having gotten over his shock at me knowing so much about him, "That's sweet."

"Shut up, you bastard," Nero gritted his teeth, then looked at me, "Alright, so you know about us. All you've proven is that you either A-a very thorough back ground checker, or B- you are one sick stalker…"

I threw my hands up and let out a loud "Ugh", "I'm _neither!_" I shouted at them, "I swear to you, I don't come from here! I'm from a whole different place! _Please_, believe me!"

"I believe her," Trish said, walking up beside me with a hand on her hip.

"What makes you believe such a far fetched story, Trish?" Dante huffed.

"Because it's not so far fetched," Trish answered, "It is quite possible that there are parallel dimensions, and that Sydney is from one of them and was somehow transported here."

Nero and Dante exchanged looks, both still not seeming to buy it.

"Think about it," Trish said, "We have weapons here that can slow time," she grinned, "Even people who know how to open paths to the demon world. We fight monsters everyday and live a life that many people _here_ refuse to believe," she put an arm over my shoulder, "What makes you think that there can't be another dimension like the one Sydney describes, hmm?"

Nero threw his hands in the air and slouched back, "I give up…I don't believe her, but Trish is making sense…"

"She has a way of doing that sometimes…" Dante said as he stroked his bristled chin. He looked me over a few times before he shrugged, "I guess we've got no choice then," he sat up, slapping his hands against his knees before rising to his feet. He walked to me (I must've only come up to his pecs!) and patted my shoulder, "Welcome to the club, kid!"

_"What!?!_" Nero sprang up, "You're going to _keep_ her!?"

"Sure, why not?" he said, walking back towards his desk, "She's cute, I can live with having her around for a while. Going to be hell to feed another mouth though…I wonder if we have enough Pizza…" he scratched his head as if thinking about it.

"Dante! You can't just let her stay like this!" Nero said, "She's sick in the head! We need to get her some help! Someone's bound to be looking for her! I mean, _look at her!_" Nero held his hand out to me, "The girl doesn't look like she's been living on the streets all her life! You're not doing anyone a charity here, Dante! You could be charged with kidnapping!"

"If she's right," Dante sat down, "Then no one in _this_ world will know her. So no one will be looking for her," he pulled a soda can out from a cooler under his desk, "I'm not worried."

"And just where do you plan to keep her!?" Nero snapped, "You're already sleeping on your couch while Trish has the bed! Where is _she_ going to sleep!?"

"Would you _please_ stop talking about me as if I'm a stray dog!" I yelled over the both of them. Trish, who had obviously been through this before, was walking away towards the stairs that lead to the loft where I guessed the bed room was (seeing as you don't really see much of Dante's office in the game…)

Nero looked at me, seeming a bit apologetic as he backed down, "Uh…sorry about that…" he said, scratching the back of his head and looking a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry about her room, Nero," Trish called from the upper floor platform, "Dante can just move all of his crap out of the spare room like he _said_ he was going to last year and then she can sleep there."

Dante blinked, looking up from his soda, "What is Dante going to do?"

--

"Until Dante fixes up the spare room," Trish said, "You're going to have to sleep here." She was fixing up the love seat down in Dante's office with a pillow and some sheets. I was standing off to the side, trying not to fall to my knees and cry.

Why would I want to do that, you might ask? Possibly because…I was wearing Dante's clothes. Since I had nothing to sleep in, Trish offered up something of his. Of course, Dante threw a fit when he saw me come down stairs in a pair of his boxers and a long sleeve red shirt, but Trish didn't say anything about it.

Nero had left to go see Kyrie, and I was trying to piece together what was happening to my life.

First-I had found out that while _I_ was here, my Playstaion which transported me here was no where in sight. Second-According to what I gather, I had come at a point when the game events were over already. Third-It would seem that I had no way of knowing if it was possible for me to get home, so I was _stuck_ here.

The third one didn't bother me as much as the fact that where I would have to stay was with a Devil Hunter and his "assistant". I sat on the love seat with the blankets over my knees, pulling them to my chest to rest my chin on. I kept thinking…what are my parents going to think about this? What happens when my mom wakes up and finds that I'm gone? What about Dad? I was supposed to go and see him over the weekend. He had promised to take me and my friends out to Seaworld too…

"Hey, kid," Dante was standing behind the love seat, looking at me.

I looked up and gave him a slight glare, "My name is _Sydney_."

Dante nodded, leaning on the back of the sofa, "Right, right, Sydney…listen," he looked at me, looking like he was about to pull some smartass comment, but stopped, "You okay?"

I blinked. I hadn't noticed that I had started to cry, thinking about my parents. I wiped it away quickly, "Oh, shit! I-I'm fine!" I lied to him.

Dante seemed to know that and studied me for a moment. Then he sighed and pushed away, leaving me alone as he headed towards his desk, "Go to bed, kid. Tomorrow…we'll try to find where the hell you came from."

I watched him, surprised. I expected some kinda squabble because he had _seen_ me crying and I had told him I was _fine_. For me, this was a bit out of character for Dante.

"Didn't you hear me?" Dante said as he leaned back in his chair, picking up a new magazine and opening it, "Or has that head injury affected your hearing to?" he glared at me, "Go to sleep."

I huffed. Yep, that was Dante. I wiggled down under the sheets, pulled them up to my chin and turned my back to him. _'Tomorrow we'll try to find where the hell you came from…'_ he had said.

I closed my eyes as another silent tear dripped out. I hoped so.

--

"Ouch!" I heard someone exclaim, "See! This is why I refuse to cook!"

"It's a microwave," Trish said, "You don't _cook_ anything, you just reheat."

"I burnt my damn _finger_!" it was Dante. I smelled something in the air that reminded me of when my dad tried to cook. I rolled over and opened my eyes against the light to see Dante, back to me, trying to pull something out of a microwave with his bare hands.

"Why don't you use a napkin to pick it up?" Trish suggested, sitting on the desk corner as she ate what looked like a slice of cold pizza.

"We don't _have_ anymore fucking napkins!" Dante retorted.

I sat up slowly and stretched my arms out, hearing a small pop in my shoulders, and then one when I arched my back. Trish looked over as I ruffled my already messy hair, "You're finally up, huh?" she said as she licked her fingers.

I looked at her with an expression that my dad always called my "too early to care" face. I looked past her to see the digital clock on Dante's desk read 11 am. "What's going on?" I asked her.

"Dante's trying to make breakfast," Trish looked back as Dante cursed again, still trying to pick up the tray of food, "And he's just not smart enough to figure out how to work the microwave…"

"Shut up, Trish!" Dante growled, "I can work the microwave, I just can't figure out how to get the damn thing _out_!"

I grumbled, kicking off the sheet standing up. I drug my feet, feeling very cold after moving away from the warmth of the sheet and sofa, with my hands tucked under my arms as I moved with a very annoyed expression to Dante. I used one hand to shove him aside, took the end of the shirt I was wearing and used it like a hot-pad to pick up the tray and drop it on his desk. "There," I glared at him, "You'd think someone like you would have at least a little common sense…" I mumbled as I made my way towards one of the doors.

"Where are you going?" Trish asked.

I looked at her, "Bathroom…"

She pointed at the other door, "That one."

I looked at it, seeing Dante smirking at me, and gritted my teeth in a mock-snarl as I pushed past him to go into the other room. I shut and locked the door before I groped around on the wall for a light switch. When it came on, I had to bite back a startled scream.

I could tell that Dante was a bachelor. The bathroom told me everything I needed to know about that…

I could also tell that Trish must live here full time too. The hamper that was shoved off in a corner was empty, but there were dirty clothes all around it. The bathtub had a maroon curtain that looked like it had seen better days. The toilet paper roll was empty, and the medicine cabinet above the sink was ajar.

It also had a strong odder to it, which I didn't know if it was from the clothes or the toilet, but I wasn't about to find out. I turned and nearly yanked the knob off the door to get out, covering my mouth. I jumped out, shut the door, and plastered my back to it, taking in deep breathes.

Dante and Trish looked at me, both wearing confused expressions. I looked from one to the other, then swallowed, "Um…do you have another bathroom?"

--

Of course, they didn't, but thankfully Nero had arrived shortly after my discovery. I had nearly jumped on him and begged him to take me some where that I could actually go pee because I feared their bathroom.

After I explained that, he had taken me out to a near by convenience store where I had made a dash for their restroom while Nero waited for me.

Once I had done my business, the shop owner said that normally he wouldn't let someone use the restroom with out buying something. "But, I can make an exception for you, little lady," he grinned at me.

I blushed. I had actually not even changed when I left, so I was still in a pair of black boxer-shorts and a to-big shirt, my hair back in a pony tail to hide the mess.

Nero stepped up, glaring at the shop keeper as he took my forearm, "Come on, let's get out of here," he said as he pulled me away.

"W-Wait!" I said, pulling away as I ran up to one of the displays and yanked something off the rack. I had only enough money to buy one, and the shop keeper seemed to be in a hurry now that he had received a warning glare from Nero, and he told me to forget the tax.

I left with a plastic bag as Nero lead me back to his motor-cycle. "What did you buy?" he asked me.

I smiled and reached into the bag, "I didn't want to have to keep running down the street to use the toilet so…" I held up a small box, an air-freshener inside, "I got this."

Nero laughed as he helped me get a helmet on and started his bike. "Do you think you'll mind if we take a little side trip?" he asked me.

I blinked, "No. Where are you going?"

"I have to go and get something," he answered, and then drove off.

--

What he had _had_ to get was a bouquet of flowers. They were beautifully cut and an assortment of blues and pinks. We stopped at a building that I assumed was a hotel. "Are you staying here?" I asked.

"Only for a little while longer," Nero answered, "I came here to help Dante with something." He helped me get off without hurting my legs and then led me inside.

We went up two floors and then down to room number 729. He opened it with a key and I heard someone humming beautifully.

"Nero!" a young voice said as I watched a beautiful young girl bound up and kiss his cheek, "You're back already? Was Dante gone?"

"No," he answered, "I got these for you," he held out the flowers.

Kyrie, as I recognized her, took them with a sparkle in her eye and kissed him quickly. Then she noticed me, "Oh, who is this?" she asked.

"This is…" Nero started, but stopped. I realized with a hint of annoyance that he had forgotten my name.

"Sydney Webbers," I said with a smile, shaking her hand, "I'm new in town. Nice to meet you Kyrie."

Kyrie blinked, "You know my name?"

I nodded, "Yes. I'm staying with Dante for the time being, and Nero talks about you all the time," I smiled at her, "You're even prettier in person though."

Nero looked at me, surprised. Actually, he had never brought her up, but I knew about her anyway. I winked at him and he glared. I guessed he still didn't believe that I wasn't from his world.

"Where are you visiting from?" she asked with a smile, still holding Nero's flowers.

That was a question I wasn't prepared for, "Uh…just outta town…" I shrugged. I didn't want to tell her that I was from a different world. It would get to confusing if I tried to explain it to her.

"…where from?" Kyrie asked again. She was pretty persistent for a sheltered child…

I glanced at Nero, who cleared his throat, "Uh…she's actually from Fortuna. She came here after…everything."

"Oh!" Kyrie looked apologetic, "I'm so sorry for you loss. Did your family suffer as well?"

I blinked, "My…?"

"Kyrie," Nero stepped in, "Why don't you put those flowers in some water?"

"Oh, yes," Kyrie seemed to think that Nero was stopping her from talking about it because it might hurt my feelings.

"I'm going to take Sydney home," Nero said, "Then I might stay at Dante's for a while."

"Alright then," Kyrie smiled, "Be safe, Nero. It was nice to meet you, Sydney." She waved as Nero pushed me out the door.

Once we were in the hallway, he was quickly leading me back towards the stairs. I was scowling, "_Fortuna City!?_ There is no way I can pass off as someone from there, Nero! Why did you say that?!"

"I didn't see you offering up any ideas!" he said, trying to get me to hurry. It was past noon now, I realized as I glanced at his watch, "Besides, she went for it. It's better than trying to explain what a nut case you are."

"Nut case!?" I spun around and stopped him, hands on his chest. Unlike Dante, I came up to his shoulders, "I'm not a nut case! I am from a different world, I swear! In _my_ world, demons don't pop out of no where and try to eat people! Sure, you hear about the stupid kid who pretends to be possessed and exorcism now and then, but we _don't_ have devil hunters and we _don't_ have guys with glowing arms!" I indicated to devil bringer.

He looked at his arm, then to me, "Do people from your world make a habit of falling from the sky onto napping men?"

I blushed, _"No!_ I don't even know how the hell that happened! And you can just shut up about that! I know for a fact it would take a bit more than someone falling on you to hurt you!"

"It wasn't _you_ that hurt me!" Nero snapped, "It was that stupid piece of junk that fell after you that hurt my leg! It was heavy!"

I opened my mouth to say something, then stopped, eyes wide, "Something fell after I did?" I asked.

"Yes," Nero crossed his arms, "And it left a nice bruise too."

"What was it?" I asked.

"How the hell should I know?" he answered.

"What did it look like?"

"What does it matter?" he asked.

_"Just answer me!_" I snapped, reaching up and grabbing the collar of his hoodie, pulling him close, "Where is it now!?"

He blinked, "I left it there."

I tightened my grip, pulling him so close that our noses were almost touching, glaring at him harshly, "Show me…"

--

I ran to the hill where Nero said I had fallen on him. It was next to some ruins of old buildings and where Nero had been laying was in a patch of over grown green grass. He tried to follow me, but I was a bit faster when it came to hills so I got there first and started to look around.

"Where is it?" I asked, not seeing anything.

Nero looked around, "I left it here…"

"It's got to be here!" I started to move around, "It couldn't just have gotten up and…" I paused, looking over my shoulder at him, "Does anyone still…live here, Nero?"

Nero blinked, "Some old bums and maybe a few die-hard Order followers," he seemed to get what I was thinking and nodded, "It is possible someone found it."

I fell to my knees, "Dammit!" I groaned, "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!!" I punched the grass, "That could've been a clue as to how to get home! Arg! Why didn't you bring too!?"

"My hands were kinda full," Nero snapped, "I had to carry _you_ back! And you're not what I would call light."

I didn't even think or notice that I had moved as I jumped up and slapped him across the face, making his head snap to one side. Seconds after I realized what I did, I gasped and covered my mouth. I had never really hit anyone in my life, and starting with a guy who had a demon arm and guns was a bad idea…

Nero straightened, rubbed his cheek and scowled at me. There was a big red hand print on his cheek, and my hand was stinging. I hit him pretty hard, and I didn't know if it was because of what I did, what he said, or what was happening, but I was holding back tears again.

"N-Nero…" I put both my hands over my chest, "I'm _so_ sorry! I-I didn't mean—"

"Forget it," Nero shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, turning away, "Whatever, just drop it." He started to walk away.

"Nero! Wait!" I rushed after him, grabbing his arm (I didn't even notice that it was his demon arm until he froze) "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" Nero didn't even look at me, he only pulled his arm away and started walking again. I felt angry again. I was trying to apologize! After all, it should've been _him_ that apologized! I'm not fat!  
"_Nero!"_ I wrapped both my arms around Devil Bringer and pulled him back. I might have put a bit too much _pull_ into it though, because I pulled him over and we both fell.

I tumbled back onto my butt, and he landed with his head in my lap. I blushed, my heart coming to a dead stop for a moment as I watched him look up at me, blushing too. We both shot away from each other. I kept my back to him, my arms crossed around my abdomen, trying to take steady breaths so my heart would slow down. I heard Nero clear his throat and rise to his feet.

"Um…" he scratched the back of his head, holding out his other hand for me, "Let's…not talk about this, alright?"

I looked over my shoulder, then nodded quickly, taking his hand and letting him help me up. We walked back towards his bike together, silent, not looking at each other, until we reached the side walk.

"So…what do you think that thing was anyway?" he asked me, as if trying to get me to talk again.

I blinked, then shook my head, "I…honestly have no idea."

--

_**A/N:** Kay, while I really don't have a pairing picked out for this story yet, I am working very hard on it! (Kinda...sorta...^-^;) I hope to have a pairing picked before chapter...4??? :D_

_Well, hope you liked it! I'll work on getting the third chapter up (maybe tonight as well if I get it finished...)  
_

_~Alma Theresa_


	3. Dante

3

Dante

Nero and I became somewhat friends as days went by. He would come by in the morning to find me cleaning while Dante and Trish where either asleep, or out. I didn't like doing it while they were here because of Dante's comments about how it would be more attractive if I was in a maid outfit, which normally lead Trish into a fight with him.

Trish and I had become fast friends. She was kinda quiet and cold, but she offered help when I needed it. Since I had refused to wear Dante's clothes anymore, she started offering me some of her's, which wasn't much better.

I wore a pair of black leather shorts that I suppose were suppose to be sexy, but I wasn't as big in…some areas as Trish so they stopped at my mid thigh, the shirt I wore was a black tube top. Kyrie had also given me a couple things like panties and bras. She was closer to my size than Trish, so it was better.

Today though was a slow day in Devil May Cry. No early morning missions, meaning Dante was at home base, and Trish had left to go follow her own agenda. Dante had fallen asleep leaning back in his chair with his feet up, a magazine over his face as he let out a slight snore. I was reading a book that Nero had brought. It was something Kyrie had already read and she offered it to me, so he brought it over.

I noticed that Kyrie didn't come over to the office much. I had only seen her here once, and that was when Nero was to shy to bring me a bag of women's underpants. Even then she seemed in a hurry to leave. I didn't quite understand it.

Dante let out another small snore and I looked up. I couldn't say I didn't expect this of him, but still…

I dog-eared my page and put it down, looking at Dante with a devious grin. I had gotten a rotten idea. I stood up and tip-toed around his desk until I came to his chair. The back of his head was to me, so I could peek at his face under the shadow of the magazine and saw that he was indeed asleep, mouth agape. I slowly reached over and opened a drawer to his desk. He had a video camera in it (for whatever reason) and it had an empty memory, so I turned it on record and placed it on the desk just so, allowing you to see him at the perfect angle.

I hurried up stairs and into the room that Dante had been forced to fix for me. He hadn't taken everything out, only moved it around and some stuff into boxes. I knew that in one box was a bunch of things he had gotten just because, and in it I found a blow horn. I giggled as I hurried quietly back down stairs and around to the side of his chair.

I moved the horn slowly to his ear, but in the camera you could only see my hand, and plugged one of my ears with the other hand and shut my eyes tight…

BLLLLUGGG!!!

_"Mother—" _Dante jackknifed up so fast that he fell sideways out of his chair and onto the floor, cursing and scrambling to his knees, his arms on the desk as he franticly looked around, his eyes wide until they fell onto me.

I was laughing so hard at that point that I had to lean over, holding my stomach. My face was red and so was his, whether from anger or embarrassment I didn't know.

_"Sydney!"_ Dante got up to his feet and tried to grab me.

I jumped out of his reach, grabbing the camera from the desk and trying to get the chase on tape.

Dante looked horrified, "You _recorded_ that!?" he shouted, then tried to grab for me again, "Give it to me!" he ordered.

"No way!" I laughed, out of breath, "I'm showing this to everyone! It's pure gold!"

"GIVE IT NOW!" Dante roared as he lunged for me. I jumped onto the sofa and then over it, so he rammed into that and tried to reach over it to grab me. He missed and was forced to try and chase me around the office.

This went on for a few more minutes, but I'm only human, he's a demon hybrid. He eventually caught me around the waist and threw me onto the couch as I held the camera above my head, trying to keep it out of his reach while I pushed against his chest with my feet, laughing the entire time.

"GIVE IT HERE, SYDNEY!" he growled while I used my other hand to push against his chin.

"No! It's mine!" I laughed.

"It's _MY_ camera!" he snapped.

"So!? It's _my_ movie!" I laughed.

The door swung open with a chime, and I was distracted for a split second, so my hand slipped and Dante fell forward, having to brace his arms on either side of my head to keep from falling on me. My legs had bucked from under his chest, so they fell with one over the side and the other pinned against the couch by his thigh. We stared at each other for a while, a warm blush coming to my cheeks.

"What the hell is going on here!?" snapped Nero as he gritted his teeth in the doorway.

"N-Nero!" I gasped, Dante shooting up to his feet so that I could sit up, "I-It's not what it looks like!"

"She's a minor, Dante!" Nero was completely ignoring me.

"I didn't do anything," Dante crossed his arm, "It's her fault."

"Her fault!?" Nero shouted.

_"My_ fault!?!" I glared at Dante, shooting to my feet, "You're the one who was chasing me!" I realized afterward that might not have been the best thing to say.

"_Chasing!?_" Nero came up and pulled me behind him, "What the hell do you think you're doing, you old pervert!?"

Dante glared, "Not like that, you fool!" he said, "She woke me up with a blow—"

"She did _what!?_" Trish came in next, "Sydney! What were you doing?!"

Dante threw his hands up, and I put my head in my hands. My reputation was going to be ruined after this.

"It was a blow _horn_!" Dante said, "She blew it in my ear while I was sleeping!"

"She blew _what_ in your ear!?" Lady came in after Trish, the two of them obviously have been doing something together.

I finally gave up, "Look, I've got it on tape."

"That's kinky," Trish huffed.

Dante let out a loud "Ugh" and turned away, leaving Nero, Trish, and Lady to crowd around me while I rewound the tape. They watched it all the way up to the point where Nero came in, and then it stopped.

Nero was laughing so hard that I thought he might cry, Lady was trying not to look at Dante, but when she did she went into a fit of giggles, and Trish had one hand to he mouth as she tried to stop from laughing.

Dante, on the other hand, sat at his desk with his feet up, arms crossed and glaring, "She snuck up on me…" he said.

"O-Of course she did," Trish tried to say, but kept her mouth covered.

I was giggling as Lady patted my shoulder, trying to congratulate me, but she kept breaking off into laughs.

I looked at Dante with an apologetic smile, but he only scowled. Then I noticed Nero tip-toeing up behind with the same blow horn, and blew it again behind Dante. He jumped, looking kinda like a frightened cat, but he reached behind him into his gun belt and pulled ebony and started to fire and Nero.

Nero ran out of the way and went up to me, giving me the blow horn as he ran from Dante, who was shouting curses and insults as he chased Nero outside.

I laughed while Lady shouted for me to get this on tape too, Trish going to follow her as we all went outside to watch Dante, in his rage, start a battle with Nero.

I quickly started a new file and recorded the entire thing…

---

Dante sat on the sofa after Nero had left. Trish was upstairs and Lady had gone home, leaving just me and him in the office past closing time.

He wasn't looking at me anymore, and my guess was that this was his version of the "cold shoulder". I had tried to make amends by sweeping up the mess he made from his fight in the office with Nero, I even cleaned his guns, but even though he seemed rather amused and pleased with my work, I didn't get a word from him.

I was adjusting his desk so that it was a bit better organized while he sat with one arm over the back the couch, the other on his knee, his head turned away from me. I sighed, putting my hand on my hip as I looked at him.

"Well?" I said, stepping towards him, "Are you just going to ignore me all day?"

I saw his eyes move, glancing at me, but then he just moved so that his knuckles were under his chin, not acknowledging me beyond that. I glared, and plopped down beside him, bring my legs up to sit with them crossed, looking at him.

He moved his leg so it was farther from me. I scowled, "That's real mature, Dante."

He didn't say anything.

"Come on," I tilted my head, "I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you," I nudged him, "But you can't say you wouldn't have done the same thing when given the chance, right?"

He moved slightly, seeming to relax as if he realized that yes, he would have. I smiled, "And it was kinda fun too. You got to fight Nero. And won!" Okay, so no one really won that fight, but I was tying to appeal to that side of a man who always wants to _think_ he wins.

I saw a faint smirk on Dante's face, but then it was gone. He was trying not to smile.

I frowned, then tugged on his sleeve. No response. I tugged harder. Still nothing. Annoyed, I pinched his skin hard with my nails. This time, I got a reaction.

"Ouch!" he said, pulling his arm away and glaring at me.

I smiled, "So you know I'm here now!" I said, "Would you talk to me, please? I said I was sorry, and I meant it. Please," I clasped my hands together, "Forgive me?"

Dante rubbed his arm, still glaring, and stood up.

I dropped my hands, scowling, "You're a real baby, you know that?" I said, crossing my arms. "You could at least be mature about it."

Dante turned and glared at me again. I was becoming use to that icy demon stare of his. "Alright," he said, "I'll forgive you…"

I didn't miss the _I'll_, or _I will_ part of that. He wanted me to do something for him.

"…_if _you," he smirked and tapped his cheek, "give me a little kiss."

My expression must've been funny or something, because Dante broke out into laughter. "Come on," he held open his arms, "I'm waiting…"

"Y-You're serious!?" I gasped, "I can't kiss _you_!"

"And why not?" Dante smirked, "I won't bite. Come on, just one little kiss on the cheek won't kill you, will it?"

_It just might_, was what was going through my head over and over again as my heart beat tripled. I was afraid I might have a heart attack!

"You want me to say 'I forgive you'," Dante said, "Then you have to give me that little apology favor. Hurry up, or I'll take it back."

I climbed slowly to my feet. It wasn't like I hadn't thought about kissing Dante before. Playing all of the video games, I had often times wanted to kiss him after he said or did something so awesome…but that was when he _was_ a video game…but now he was here…

Dante didn't move, only watched me with a smile as I went up on my tip-toes and kissed the side of his jaw quickly. When I tried to step away, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. My heart stopped when his lips touched my brow. My legs quivered and almost buckled, but I managed to stay up as he let go of me. "There, apology accepted," he said, and walked away, "I think I'll go out for a while…don't wait up," he chuckled and left.

The moment the door shut, I fell to my knees, feeling more that a little bit dizzy.

----

_**A/N:**_ _OMG! Three chapters in one night! (crashes head into keyboard) How I managed it all never know but...I'm proud about how it's turning out. Please read and review and if you have any ideas about who Sydney should get together with **PLEASE TELL ME**!!!!! (still have no idea who to pair her with!)_

_Thanks, please review...I'm going to sleep now (I am now the picture of the walking dead...)_

_~Alma Theresa_


	4. Man's way of Solving Everything

4

Man's Way of Solving Everything

I woke up the next morning hearing something very strange…nothing. There was no sound, no arguing, not even the smell of Dante trying to warm something up for breakfast. That alarmed me to the point where I sat up so fast that I fell over and off the sofa.

The night before, after Dante left, I was afraid I might fall down the stairs if I tried to climb them. So I curled up on the sofa again. I blinked a few times and looked around. The place was dead silent, but both Dante and Nero were here. That was complete out of character and odd.

I noticed that Dante had a beer, and so did Nero, and both of them sat on the big black couch by the door on opposite ends. Nero looked rather depressed, and Dante seemed to be joining him.

"What's going on?" I asked.

They both looked at me, but it was Dante who sighed and raised his bottle to me, "Glad to see you're awake. Maybe you can explain while the female species can be so damn cruel…"

I looked from Dante to Nero, "What are you talking about?"

"Kyrie left me…" Nero mumbled.

I covered my mouth, "Oh, Nero I'm so sorry," I got up and went over to him, sitting beside him and placed my hand on his back, "What happened?"

"She said that she 'thought it was best if we saw other people,'" he said, then scowled at the floor, "Actually, she _wrote_ it. I found a note in the hotel room last night…"

I felt so bad for him. I kept patting his shoulder and rubbing his back, trying to comfort him like I had my other guy friends when they got over a break up. Then I looked at Dante, "What about you? What's gotten you so down?"

Dante sighed and leaned back, "Trish moved out…that's what."

"Trish?" I sounded shocked because I was, "Why?"

"Apparently," he shrugged, "She's going to move in with Lady. I didn't need to be a rocket scientist to tell you what_ that _means…"

It never struck me as odd before how much Trish and Lady seemed to be together but now…I didn't really want to think about it. I reached over and patted Dante's hand too, "I'm sorry for the two of you."

Dante only mumbled something and took another swing of his beer, and Nero huffed and did the same. I sighed, shaking my head. Drinking seemed to be a man's way of solving everything…

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was a pile of at least ten beer bottles to Dante's right, and to Nero's left was the small fridge. I rolled my eyes. This was going be a long day.

--

Dante had picked himself up rather well and went right back to work. I think it had to do with him wanting to take out his frustration on some demon scum, which was a good way to channel his anger…I suppose.

Nero, on the other hand, seemed intent on being miserable for a while. Dante had offered to take him along on a mission he had got a while ago, but Nero only sat on the couch and let him leave.

I ordered out for lunch as Nero moped and complained about there not being anymore beer. I thought he had enough, and he seemed to agree after he tried to get up to go to the bathroom and ended up walking into the supply closet. Luckily he was sober enough to know the difference between a toilet and a mop bucket, and went into the other room.

When the pizza arrived, I paid with some cash that Dante kept in the safety box in a locked drawer (he hid the key under the sofa cushion, Trish had told me) and as I put it on the desk, I heard Nero start to throw up.

"Nero, are you okay?" I knocked on the door. My answer was the sound of him vomiting again. I wrinkled my nose, feeling a bit sick myself now, and decided that pizza isn't what he was going to want to see right now. I put it quickly into the fridge and then knocked again on the door, "Nero, I'm coming in, okay?" the door wasn't locked, so I opened it up to see him leaning over the toilet as he reached up and flushed it.

He glanced up at me, looking very pale and drained, "Don't ever let me drink that much again…" he said, slurring on almost every word.

I chuckled and nodded as he hurled again. I hurried over to the sink, turning on the cold tap and wetting a wash cloth that I folded and put on the warm skin on the back of his neck. "Do you think you can handle water?" I asked him, kneeling down beside him with my hand on his back.

He gave a very slow nod and I went back to the tap and filled a small cup half way up. I held it out to him, "Sip it," I told him.

Nero sat back, taking in gasping breathes and did as I told him. I knelt back down beside him, taking the now warm wash-cloth from his neck and looking at him. This wasn't the Nero I had thought he would be. When I played the game, he seemed almost undefeatable, even when he was loosing. But if there was ever a time that he was defeated, it would be now.

He kept sipping the water while I re-wet the rag, and as he pulled away the now empty cup, I cleaned the corners of his mouth. "This is why you're supposed to eat something before you drink," I told him, "Or _while_ you drink."

Nero swayed, not fully listening. He was drunk, and I had learned from my dad that you can't talk to anyone when they're drunk. I sighed and stood up, taking the cup and towel from him and standing up, "Come on," I pulled his arm, "Let's go." I got him to his feet after a lot of pulling and coaching, and then let him lean on me while we both stumbled awkwardly out of the bathroom.

I let him fall onto the couch and pulled one of the sheets I slept with over and made a pillow for him. Since Dante didn't have much in the way of kitchen ware, I settled for putting a wide empty plant pot-thingy beside him and told him if he felt like he had to vomit again, to do it in here.

I then wet the wash-cloth once more and put it on his neck below his chin, which seemed to relax him rather well. He closed his eyes and fell so quickly into sleep that I think he passed out.

I walked away and went back to the fridge. Before it got to cold (I hate cold pizza) I grabbed a slice to eat, then sat on the other arm-rest of the couch and watched Nero sleep.

I sighed, _'What on earth made Kyrie want to leave him?'_ I thought. If someone saved my life, I'd stick with that guy forever. Why would she leave Nero?

As I thought about this more, Nero's words came to mind. _'She said we should see other people…'_ I may not have much experience in the world of love, but I had watched enough soap operas and teen-dramas to know that whenever someone says that, they mean there _is_ someone else they're already seeing.

I felt sorry for Nero. Maybe he knew what that meant to, which is why he was taking it so hard. No, I think he would've taken it this hard either way. He loved Kyrie…he just had weird ways of showing it at first.

The phone rang at the desk and I jumped. I looked at it for a long while, then hurried over and picked it up. "Devil May Cry?" I said.

They mumbled something into my ear…the password…

--

How on earth did I get stuck with _this_?! I had heard of a "dead-end job," but this was just nuts! I sat behind Dante's desk and tried to take notes as I talked on the phone with another customer with the password. I got an address and the amount they were willing to pay, but their names were optional. As long as they paid, Dante didn't care.

Nero was still asleep on the couch while I hurriedly tried to find more paper. Dante had scribbled on just about everything, so it wasn't easy. Then I had to find a pen that wasn't broken, which was sometimes even harder seeing as not all of them worked.

Why did it seem that when I'm the only one here that this place was at it's busiest!? Three people came in through the door to ask for my help, but I had to tell them I was just a "temp" here while the owner was out.

I got their addresses and one of them gave me a thousand dollars now, and promised five thousand when the job was done. I put the money in the safety box and made sure that the note with the man's number on it was put as one of the top ones.

I had no clue were Dante was! He had left around ten in the morning, and it was almost three in the afternoon! It was starting to piss me off that he had left me with a drunk and now dead to the world Nero, and his shop that someone had to run since he didn't bother to say "Just close it for the day, Sydney."

I was tired and not to happy when I snuck away to the bathroom for a moment. I was just going to go pee when I heard, yet again, the chimes at the door. I sighed loudly and walked back out again, trying to put on a smile, "Devil May Cry, how can I—" I broke off when I saw that no one was there.

I looked around, but only Nero was in the room. He had rolled over so his back was to me now, but he hadn't woken up. This was really strange, I know I heard the bells on the door ring, so someone must've come in.

I was going to shake it off and say I was imagining things, but then I remembered where I was. I was in the world of Devil May Cry, and when you hear something…it means that there is something there. Realizing that, I felt all the hairs on my neck go on end. I hurried over to Nero and shook his shoulder violently.

"Nero! Nero, get up!" I whispered harshly.

Nero groaned and opened one eye, "W-What? Leave me the hell alone…ow…my head…" he shut his eyes tight and rubbed his temples.

"Get up!" I snapped, still whispering, "I think there's something in here!"

Nero opened his eyes wide now and looked up at me, "What?"

"I heard the bells on the door chime and—" there was a clattering from up stairs and I jumped.

Nero sat up fast now, grabbing my arm to pull me back, sitting me down on the couch beside him, "You stay here," he ordered, very alert now, and stood up. He didn't even miss a stride as he pulled his gun, Blue Rose, from a table by the couch and headed for the stairs.

I did as he ordered and stayed put, looking around franticly as he ascended the stairs and left me behind. I watched him on the loft as he opened the door to Trish's old room. He must not have seen anything, because he went to the next room.

I felt a bit unprotected at that moment, so I got up and went over to Dante's stash of weapons and found a shot gun. I wasn't sure if it was loaded, but at the very least I could hit something with it.

I heard Nero kick in the door to the room I was staying in, and then a shot was fired. Something let out a horrible screech and then I heard Nero start to brawl. I ran out where I could see the loft as a strange, broken body came flying down and landed just in front of me.

I screamed, frightened, as it started to move again. It was a demon! It held out an ugly, boney hand and grabbed my ankle, pulling me down on my back. I let out another yell and then pointed the shot gun, the barrel going into its gapping mouth as it let out a groaning noise. I pulled the trigger and its head exploded with a loud _Bang!_ Then it faded into dust and sand.

I was breathing heavily after my near death experience as Nero came running down the stairs. "Sydney!" he pulled me up on my feet, holding my shoulders, "Are you alright?" he asked.

I looked down at my ankle and covered my mouth so not to scream in his ear. The demon's hand was still attached to me. "Get it off me! Get it off me!!" I demanded and pointed to my foot.

Nero looked down, knelt, and ripped it off my ankle with Devil Bringer, then broke it into dust.

I swayed as he came back up. Now it was _my_ turn to feel sick. It was a completely different feeling than when you played the video game and killed demons. Now I had actually _killed a demon._ Something about that just seemed…scary…

"Sydney?" Nero lowered his head to look at my face, "Are you okay? Did it do something to you?" he asked.

I shook my head, the shot gun falling from my hand to land, now empty I guess, on the floor with a clatter. All I could do now was shiver, looking at the pile of grey sand on the floor.

"What's the matter then?" he asked.

I only shook my head, covering my mouth, feeling like I wanted to throw up. I refused to let myself, of course, but I didn't say anything to Nero.

"Here, sit down," he led me over to the couch where we both sat down. I noticed that he seemed to keep a good three inches between us, and leaned forward with his arms on his knees, watching me, "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

I nodded.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked.

I didn't say anything, still feeling a bit queasy.

"Do you need a doctor?" he asked me, "Do you want me to call someone?"

I shook my head, "I-I'll be alright…I just…" I blinked, "I've never really…_killed_ anything before…I mean, not intentionally, I've killed a few gold fish because I didn't take care of them properly, but I cried for weeks over that!"

Nero chuckled, then laughed, rubbing his forehead as he sat back.

I glared at him, "Stop it!" I snapped, "It's not funny!"

"You're upset because you killed a demon that was going to kill you?" he laughed again.

"_No!_" I blushed…what back up story could I think of? Truth was I couldn't really…

Nero smiled again at me, trying not to laugh, but he didn't say anything.

I was still glaring when the door opened again, and Dante strolled in, looking very relaxed and in a better mood than this morning. He was whistling as he turned and flipped the sign to "Closed" and locked the door. He halted when he noticed both me and Nero were watching him.

He blinked, "What?"

--

**A/N: Okay, I hope that no one kills me for this chapter because I broke up the Nero/Kyrie pair. I wrote this chapter before I decided the pairing (which is still pending) and if I do decide to go with Dante, then I'll get them back together, promise! ^-^; (Please don't kill me!) **

**Anyway, I hope you keep reading. Sorry again to all the Nero/Kyrie lovers (honestly, I like them together too)! I hope you don't hate the story for this, because they still have a chance of getting back together in the future! Please keep reading!**

**~Alma Theresa**


	5. Fighting Back Tears

5

Fighting back Tears

Dante had laughed at the story too. I didn't understand what they found so funny about the fact that I felt strange about killing something. I didn't feel like it was that strange. I'm sure anyone (or, almost anyone) in my position would be just as freaked out. It was different when you killed the demons in the game, but when it was reality it was just _freaky_.

"Still," Dante stroked his chin, "It is weird that it went straight to Sydney's room."

I looked at Dante, "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Dante crossed his arms over his chest, his feet up on his desk again, looking very thoughtful, "It's not like I don't get demons coming in her all the time to attack me, it happens every now and then. But this one seemed to be coming for _you_," he looked pointedly at me.

"Me?" I blinked, "Why would he be after me?"

Dante shrugged, "Don't know. And I could be wrong, and it could just be a coincidence, but it just seems that way…"

Nero made a thoughtful "hmm", and I looked at him, "You don't think that too, do you?"

"…well," Nero sighed, "When I found him in the room, he was digging through your room like he was looking for something. I didn't really think about it then, but maybe…"

"But," I looked back at Dante, "Why? I'm not even from here, why would it be looking for me?"  
A long silence followed my question. Neither Nero nor Dante looked at me or at each other as is passed. They seemed to be trying to find an answer to my question, but couldn't. This didn't make me feel any better.

"We can't be sure _why_," Nero said, breaking the silence, "But we can't take any chances either."

Dante nodded, not looking up, "I agree. We'll have to find a way to keep her safe, just in case."

"What do you suggest?" Nero asked him, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, watching Dante.

Dante sighed, "Well, we can take shifts as body guards, pass her back and fourth for a couple weeks and see if anything happens."

"Here we go again," I butted in, "Talking like I'm not here. Doesn't anyone want to know what _I_ want to do?"

Both men looked at me. "Okay," Dante put down his feet and crossed his arms over his desktop, looking at me, "What do you think we should do, Sydeny?" he grinned, as if he was intrusted in my plans.

I blinked. What did I want to do? I didn't really have any ideas about this, I was just making a point about how they were deciding things without me, even when I was right in front of them.

"Uh…well…" I scratched the tip of my nose, "I…really don't have any ideas but…"

"I can take her back to Fortuna City," Nero said before I could say more, realizing I had no idea what to do, "I'll guard her full time. You're to big of a lazy ass to do anything anyway. She'll probably get killed while you're singing in the shower or something."

"Watch you're moth, kid," Dante snarled, "Or you might loose it. I can take just as good of care of her as you can."

Nero huffed, "Sure. You've probably never guarded a thing in your life."

Dante fumed, "Just shut up! You'd no a lot about guarding girls! You've done it, oh wait…" Dante smiled smugly, "You failed that time too. Didn't see nearly get killed anyway?"

Nero was on his feet before I could blink, charging Dante. I didn't see the movement, but I knew what must have happened. Dante kicked his desk on its side and used it like a barrier, blocking Nero for only a moment while he jumped out of the way, doing a back flip in the air to land behind Nero.

Nero spun around, pulling one of Dante's demon weapons from behind the desk, and threw it at him. Dante ducked and it went sailing over my head and wedged into the wall, that was the first time I looked at it. I think it was Rebellion, but I didn't really pay much attention as gun fire rang out. That was when I decided now would be a good time to hide.

I got up, hurried to get behind the sofa, and watched from behind it, peeking over the back while I was on my knees. I didn't know who to root for, so I didn't take sides. I was waiting for it to be over.

I ducked back down repeatedly when the fight inched closer to me. Jump-kicks, bullets, punches, insults, and demonic energy was filling the Devil May Cry office when finally, Dante shouted, "Time out!"

I slowly and hesitantly peeked again over the couch to see both of them panted, Dante holding up his index finger and taking in deep breaths, "Shit…I think I broke a rib…" he muttered in between breaths.

Nero had blood tricking down the side of his chin from his lips that he quickly wiped away, "Had enough old man?" he said, but he seemed equally as tired.

Dante looked at him, his left hand holding his right side, "I was about to as you the same question, kid," he said with a grin, spitting blood to the side.

Nero smugly grinned, "You look like you can hardly stand," he said.

"You're one to talk…"

"Can you stop, please?" I asked quietly. Both of them looked at me, as if forgetting I was there. The sofa had multiple holes and was bleeding white stuffing, thankfully nothing had hit me, but with Rebellion behind me, bullet shards at my feet and daggers protruding from the couch, I could say without a doubt that I was scared shitless.

"Oh, crap," Nero said, coming over and pushing the sofa aside with one hand, like it was nothing, "Sorry Sydney, you're not hurt are you?"

"No," I said as he held out his hand to help me to my feet, "But you guys are." I looked at Nero first (since he was right in front of me), with bullet holes in his arm and nicks on his legs and sides. He had a bruised cheek from a punch Dante gave him, and I'm sure he had more that I couldn't see.

Dante didn't look much better, still holding his side with a cut above his eye and a large gash cutting his shirt open and blood covering his front. "We'll heal," Dante told me, seeing how I was looking at his wounds, "Pretty fast to. Don't worry."

I suppose that was true. They were demons after all, if only part. Still, Nero and Dante both seemed to limp a little (Dante more than Nero) as they sat down, Nero on the hole filled sofa and Dante in his chair behind his over turned desk.

Both of them stared each other down for a long while, then looked at me. I felt like I was caught between two male tigers in the same territory who wanted to kill each other for trespassing, and the only thing stopping them was me.

I swallowed, wishing I could just back away and leave them to settle this the best way they knew how. But I was stuck to the spot

Luckily though, Dante's stomach gave a big, loud growl. He patted it, "I'm hungry."

"Me too," Nero answered. Neither of them sounded to excited or even enthusiastic, but I was glad that the negative air was starting to lift as Dante dug through the rubble around his desk to find the phone.

---

Of course, Dante ordered Pizza for dinner. When he arrived, Nero and Dante seemed to have forgotten completely about the fight (I had cleaned up most of the mess) and Dante answered the door to rip the pizza boxes from the delivery boy's hands and go back inside, leaving me to pay out of the security box.

When I went back inside, Dante was sitting behind his desk with a box in his lap, gulping down a piece with another in his hands.

"Slow down!" I told him, yanking the box from him, "You'll make yourself sick!"

"Mey!" Dante's voice was muffled by the pizza crust in his mouth, so he swallowed, "Give it back!" he reached for it, but I held it out of his reach.

"You eat like you've been starved! What's with you—"

"Alright the pizza's here!" Nero came out of the bathroom and took the box from my hands, "Thanks Sydney!" He took a piece and put it in his mouth and it was gone in moments, if not seconds, and he was on his next one.

"Hold it!" I took the box from Nero too, "Man, what is with you guys!? I know you ate breakfast!" I looked at them.

They exchanged a glance, "No we didn't," Nero said, "We were drinking, remember?"

I glared, "I know that, but what is with this?" I looked in the pizza box, only two pieces were left, "You guys have almost eaten a full pizza in a matter of three minutes!"  
"Yeah," Dante snatched the box back and took another piece, "It's because of the fight. Our bodies are healing."

"Huh?" I blinked as Nero walked past me to grab the last piece, "Our bodies are healing themselves," he said, "So we need more energy, more food. It's kinda like a high metabolism thing."

I blinked, and it was clear to them I didn't understand.

"Okay," Dante groaned and sat up straight, "Y'know how I was bleeding and stuff, right? How I broke a rib and Nero was bruised up and bloody too?"

I nodded.

"Well, look at us now," he held out his hands to indicate to one another. I did, and saw that while there were still some scratches and dim bruises, they looked a lot better. No more bleeding, and some color had returned to Nero's face where the bruises had been.

"It's all part of being demon," Dante said, waving his hand around as if it was obvious, "Because our bodies are working over time to keep us fast, agile, and strong, we eat more. And when we get wounded like these, we eat even more. Why do you think I ordered eight pizzas?"

I looked at the stack on the table. This was a part they never explained in the game, so it was news to me. But, it did make sense, especially since it _was_ only a game, and the way to regain Dante or Nero's health was with green orbs or the like. Its not like you could go and take a break in the middle of a boss battle to grab a bite to eat, they needed something more instant than that. And finding pizza slices on the ground as you ran around wouldn't fit in to well with the whole 'macho devil fighter' motif.

"Get it now?" Dante asked as Nero opened another box and he snatched a piece.

I frowned, "I understand that if I want to eat, I better do it now…" I said, then went to the pizza stack and opened my one box, taking two slices and eating them quickly as they finished a box and moved on to mine.

By the time they reached box four, they had slowed down a bit. I was happy, because watching them eat like that was making me queasy. By the fifth box, I had had three pieces and was done, and they looked close to it too. That's when Nero brought up the subject of my predicament again.

"So what are we going to do about it, Dante?" he asked.

I was still nibbling crust when he asked and looked at him, wondering if it was just a good idea to start this up again. I don't think the me or the sofa could take another out burst from these too.

Dante, for whatever reason, didn't seem to upset about it anymore. He only sighed, "Well, it would seem the only thing we can do is keep her under our watch for now. So, she'll have to stay here."

"I still say she'd be safer in Fortuna with me," Nero said.

"Please don't start this again," I mumbled, rubbing the bridge of my nose. This would be a good time for Trish to walk in, but I wasn't so lucky. Yeah, I'd be having a good talk with her and Kyrie about leaving me alone with these two.

"Look," Dante scowled at Nero, "No offense, but Fortuna isn't the most prime location for us to send her if she is being hunted. More than likely, _that's_ where they're coming from."

"You destroyed all the Devil Gates," Nero said, "How would they be coming from there? It's better if we take her there!" I felt the air fill with negative feelings again and shivered. I hated arguments like this…

"I destroyed all the Devil Gates that I could see and find," Dante pointed out, "That doesn't mean that there aren't more."

"But there is plenty around here, that's why you picked this place to set up shop!" Nero said.

"Please stop," I said a bit louder.

"She's already here," Dante raised his voice, "She's gonna stay here!"

"To hell with that!" Nero shouted.

"_Stop it!_" I jumped to my feet, "You two are just like my fucking parents! Stop talking about my as if I don't _exist_!"

That stunned them to silence, and after I took in a few panting breaths, I stormed up stairs to my room. I slammed the door so hard that I think I heard something fall off the wall, but I didn't care. The room I was sleeping in had a single bed shoved in the farthest corner under a window, a small dresser, a night stand with a lamp, and a bookshelf that was mostly empty. I went to the bed and flopped down face first, hugging the pillow.

My parents had fought like that over me when they were getting divorced. My dad wanted to keep me, since it was my mom who was moving away. He said it would be better on me if I stayed, my whole life was there. My friends, my extended family, they were all in that town. But my mom said that she was taking me because she didn't trust my dad to feed me with his tendency to blow his pay checks gambling and drinking.

Neither of them asked what I wanted, I don't think either of them cared either, and the whole time they were arguing about it, I was sitting on the couch hugging my knees to my chest, trying to pretend like I was somewhere else.

And the arguments got worse and worse every time, to where they didn't care if I was there or not, they would talk about me as if I was just another thing to own, like who got the antique coffee table and who got the car, "Who got Sydney?".

I don't think even the judge saw me as anything but something else to divide between my mom and dad.

I hated it. I hated how my mom and dad always seemed to think of me like I was just something else that they had to fight over, and how no one seemed to care about what I felt, what I wanted.

And I hated that I had to think about them. I had almost forgotten my family, and that this wasn't my world, but now I remembered, and I started to cry into my pillow. Despite how much I thought I hated them, I still missed my parents.

There was a knock on the door, and it opened slowly, "Sydney?" Nero came in, leaving the door slightly ajar as he walked over to my bed, pausing half way there.

I turned my head to the wall defiantly, not wanting to look at him, or for him to see that I was crying, though I'm sure he knew.

I listened as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "Listen, Sydney, I'm sorry if we upset you…" he started to say.

I curled up into a ball, my back to him.

He let out a breath, "We're only trying to help, y'know. We don't want anything to happen to you."

I didn't say anything.

"Come on, Sydney," he took a few more steps towards my bed, "We're not trying to hurt you."

I still said nothing, though I sniffled a bit.

There was a long, lingering silence, but I knew he was still there.

I didn't know what he wanted, I didn't want to talk to him or anybody else. I just wanted to be left alone.

Then I was really surprised. Nero closed the distance between him and my bed, stood there for a few moments, before sitting down on the bed beside me. Then, I looked over my shoulder, shocked, to look at him. His back was to me, and he wasn't looking at me at all, just at the floor.

He just sat there, and I stared at him. I don't know how much time past until he finally said, "If you want to stay here…you can. I won't force you to go to Fortuna."

"What?"

"I won't force you to do anything you don't want to," he went on, "If you want to stay here with Dante, that's fine. I won't make you do anything."

I sat quiet, stunned. I didn't know what to do about it. Now I had to _choose _between Nero and Dante? I swallowed. This was something I never imagined happening to me.

"You think about it," Nero said, standing up. For someone close to my age, he sounded pretty mature right now, like he was talking to his own kid or sister, "You don't have to decide tonight."

I rolled over and sat up cross-legged in my bed as he walked to the door, "Nero…"

"I'm heading out tonight," he said as he opened the door, "I'll be back in the morning. 'Night, Sydney." He waved over his shoulder as he closed my door. I listened for a while until his foot steps were out of ear-shot, and then sighed, lowering my head.

Well, crap, what had I gotten myself into this time?

---

It was a little after midnight when I woke up. I turned on the lamp and looked around the room. For a moment, I think I was still asleep, or half so, because I was lost as to where I was. When I remembered, I let out a sigh at my own stupidity.

I kicked off the sheets and got up. I was wearing a mid-thigh long shirt that buttoned up the front. It had been something I found in the back of the dresser that was already in here, I think it might have been Dante's at some point, but he out grew it.

I found myself rather hungry, so I went downstairs to see what was in the mini-fridge. I was on the first step when I saw the dim light that was on. I went down a few more and saw Dante sitting in the desk chair, a lamp on, flipping through what looked like a file of some sort.

"Dante?" I said as I got off the stairs.

He jumped back, "Mother--!" he didn't finish when he saw me, only breathed as I laughed at him, "Don't _do_ that!" he snapped, glaring at me, "Do you like giving me heart attacks?"

"Sorry," I chuckled, "What are you doing?"

Dante let out a breath through his nose, "I was looking threw some old stuff that Trish left. Bills and such…I'm no good with these kinda things, she usually handled it all."

I walked over and looked over his shoulder, "These are from last year," I pointed out.

"I know," he said, "I was hoping to learn how to do it with it. But it isn't really helping."

"I can do it for you," I said, "Where are you're new bills?"

Dante opened a desk drawer and plopped a four thick envelopes on the desk. They were already opened, and I leaved through them. Water, power, credit cards, and the tab at the pizza parlor, "Okay, this isn't that hard, do you have a check book?"

I was very happy that my mom had made me sit down and learn how to do all this, and in turn, I showed Dante how to do it. It took some time to explain everything, since he was seriously clueless to all this, but once we did two bills and I did one mock one to help him learn, he did the last two without my help.

"See? Easy," I told him with a smile.

Dante groaned, "Still a lot of math…" I gathered that, like me, he hated math.

I patted his back, "I'm right there with ya, but it's something that has to be done. Now you know." I went towards the fridge to get something to eat.

I pulled out a piece of cold pizza and went to the microwave to reheat it. Dante didn't say anything more to me as I listened to him put in a few more numbers on the calculator we had be using. When I pulled out my pizza and turned around, I saw him just sitting there with his cheek against his palm while he poked a button with his finger repeatedly.

"What's the matter?" I asked, coming up to the desk.

Dante didn't look up, but he pushed the calculator away, "Nothing," he said.

I didn't believe that. I gave him that same line when I first got here and he saw me crying. He didn't believe me then, but he didn't press me about it either. I'm not like him. I was going to press.

"What is it?" I asked, tilted my head to the side to look at his face better, "Something bothering you? You're injuries are okay now, right?"

"Yeah," he said, pushing back from the desk and leaning back, "I'm fine."

I frowned. I didn't believe him for a second. I put my pizza down, "Okay, what is it? Is it about Trish and Lady?"

"No," Dante huffed, "I'm _fine._"

"No you're not," I pushed.

"Yes I am."

"You're not."

"I _am_."

"You're _not_."

Dante slammed his palms on the table as he bolted up out of his chair, knocking it over and making me jump. I stepped back, a bit afraid when he stalked around the table and started pacing like a caged tiger. I realized that he was frustrated, not angry, but it only helped me relax a little.

"What's got you so upset, Dante?" I asked after I had steadied myself a little.

Dante ran his hands through his hair, then looked back at me with one hand on the back of his neck. He sighed and moved slowly over to me, standing with at least an arm's length between us. "I…I didn't want to upset you today …"

I looked up, wide eyed, "Huh?"

He rubbed his neck a bit before letting his hand fall, "Shit, I'm not good at this but…" he sighed heavily and said, "I'm sorry. I apologize if we…_I_ hurt you in any way."

"Wait," I put up my hands, "Wait, wait, am I hearing this right?" I leaned in closer, looking at Dante's face, "Are you really Dante? _Dante_, Dante?"

He frowned, looking confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Are you _apologizing_ to me? Is this the same guy who wouldn't give me an apology for a practical joke unless I kissed his cheek?" I grinned, "Are you sure you're not still out of it after your fight with Nero?"

Dante glared, "Come on, Sydney," he said, "Do you know how hard this is for me?"

"Oh, I'm sure it hurts your pride very much," I couldn't help but bite back a bit of laughter. This was insane! Dante was apologizing to me! Ha! This was something I _really_ never imagined! He _cared_ about me!

My expression softened a bit…

He _cared_ about me…

I looked at him, my smugness gone now and replaced with a kind of surprise as I looked in his ice blue eyes. He _cared_. Nero _cared_. They both wanted me safe, and they cared about how I felt about everything. That was more than I had at home. That was more than I ever had.

Dante didn't seem to notice my change of mood, so he spat, "I'm sorry! I apologized, you happy now?" he spun around and cursed as he went back to the desk and sat down.

I blinked. You only rarely saw a sensitive side to Dante, like when Virgil was scent to hell and he claimed it was the rain when he was crying, or when he thought Trish was dead in the first game. He didn't like to appear weak, I knew that much.

"I'm sorry, Dante," came up behind him and grabbed his arm, turning him around, "Thank you for apologizing to me, you're sweet." I grabbed his collar and pulled him down and kissed his nose.

Dante looked shocked, then blushed, "Uh…yeah well…"

I couldn't help my giggle, "I'm going to go to bed, I'll tell you two my answer in the morning. But please," I patted his shoulder, "Get some sleep. You're grumpy if you don't sleep."

After that, I skipped up stairs with my pizza slice. I could hear, I as I shut the door, Dante mutter something about who weird I was.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, yet another chapter. I will try to keep updating, but with school back in session, it's not going to be easy. Please stay with me here! The Pairing is still pending, but I'm leaning towards one. I won't tell you which yet! (Teehee)**

**Please keep reading and reviewing, I love hearing your opinions! **

**Thanks again!**

**-Alma Theresa  
**


	6. Welcome home, Baby

**6.**

**Welcome home, Baby**

I paced my room, trying to think. I knew Nero was down stairs, which didn't make it any better. They were both waiting on my decision. In Fortuna City, where I had first appeared in this world, I might have a better chance of finding out why I was here and how to get back home. But here, with Dante, I would probably have a better chance of survival.

Not that I didn't think that Nero was capable of looking after me (or at least as capable as Dante was) but there was a chance that Dante had a point and here was safer than Fortuna. I let out a frustrated sigh and tugged at handfuls of my hair. I didn't know what to do!

"Sydney!" Dante howled up, "What's taking you so long!?"

I cursed his impatience, "Keep your pants on!" I shouted back.

"I would," answered Dante, "But Nero keeps pulling them off!"

"I AM NOT!" Nero shouted.

I rolled my eyes, putting my head in my hands. How on Earth did Trish deal with this? My eyes snapped open. _Trish!_ Of course!

I dashed over to the phone by the bed. Trish had left her cell number with me a long while ago, so I looked at the slip of paper as I dialed her number. Three rings and then I heard Trish answer, "This better be important," she growled.

I felt a little flustered, "Um…It's Sydney, Trish," I told her.

"Oh," Trish sounded immediately apologetic, "Hello, Sydney? What's wrong?" she asked.

The moment she asked that, I had to tell her everything that had happened between her departure and now. She listened intently until I was finished, then said, "I'll be right over."

She hung up the phone, and it really wasn't my intention to get her to come over, but as I stared blankly at the receiver, I realized I might've just caused a bigger problem.

"Sydney!" Dante called again, making me jump, "What the hell are you doing!? Taking a popular vote!?"

"Shut up!" I shouted back, ripping open the door to lean over the rail and glared down at them from the loft, "I'll take as long as I want! So leave me alone!"

Dante looked amused and Nero a bit unsure as I turned back to go into the room slamming the door. I returned to my pacing until I heard voices and ripped open my door.

"I _knew_ I should've gotten that phone removed," Dante grumbled as Trish and Lady walked in. Trish glared at him, then looked up at me on the loft.

"Pack your things, dear," she told me, "You're coming with us."

--

Trish didn't give me a second choice. Lady was already leading me out the door as Trish argued with Dante and Nero. "Putting her in this kind of situation is borderline cruelty," she scolded, "Until you boys can figure your acts out, she'll stay with me."

"She was just _fine_ here," Dante said, "It wasn't like I forgot to feed her."

"Don't get smart," Trish said, her arms crossed, "It's Sydney's choice where she stays until we can find a way to get her back home. Forcing her to pick like this," she shook her head, "I never thought you'd be this horrible to a young girl, Dante."

"Oh, would you shut up," Dante scowled and waved his hand, "Fine, take her! See if I care!" he looked out the door as Lady threw some plastic bags of my things into the back of their sleek sports car, waving at me with a forced smile that looked misplaced on his clearly angered features, "So long, Sydney! Nice knowing you!" he then stormed back into the office.

I heard a series of smashes and crashes before Trish and Nero came back out. Nero glared at the ground, then looked at me. Trish waited between us, arms still crossed over her chest, until Nero worked up the courage to walk over to me and say a rushed "Bye" before hurrying away.

"Good Lord," Lady grumbled, hands on her hips as she watched him leave, "You'd think you'd committed a murder the way they're acting. It's like you betrayed them."

I hadn't thought about it that way, but I was now. I looked down at my feet, suddenly ashamed. I didn't think it was possible, at least not for Dante, but I guess…I really did hurt his feelings.

--

I stayed with Trish and Lady for almost a month. I visited Dante's office often, since Trish and Lady's apartment wasn't that far, I could walk there, if I went during the day. Trish didn't like me walking alone at night, since Dante's office was in the worse part of this city, near the bars and strip joints.

But I didn't go this week. The last time I went, like always, Dante barely paid any attention to me. Lady said that was normal, since he was like a spoiled kid when he didn't get his way. I was learning that, since it was often the outcome of whatever I did for him to start pouting. This time, however, before I left, he asked "Why do you even bother coming here?"

I left after that remark. If he didn't know I cared about him and Nero by now, then it wasn't worth it. Trish and Lady was gone for the day, and I was home alone. Lady kept a clean house, so there wasn't really anything for me to do but watch some Daytime TV and munch on some Potato chips. Good thing about this whole "Different Dimension" thing was the fact that they had pretty much the same food, though their TV was different.

I was watching a News broadcast when the phone rang. I swallowed my mouthful and picked up the phone, "Trish and Lady's, this is Sydney," I answered, still digging into the Potato Chips for a bigger one to stuff in my mouth.

"Hey, it's Nero," Nero said.

"Oh, hi!" I was alert, dropping my chips to sit up straight on the couch, grinning, "What's going on? I haven't heard from you in a while. Are you back in Fortuna City? How's everything there? Any problems with the demons? Any sign of my—"

"Slow down!" Nero snapped, "I can't hear a word you say!"

I covered my mouth, "Oh, sorry…"

"It's fine, just…" I heard something in the background that sounded like Dante cursing and then shouting for Nero's help, "I'll be right there! Can't you just---NO I WILL NOT!"

"Nero?" I shot to my feet, "What's going on? Is everything okay?!"

"Yes…well, yes and no…I mean…." He grumbled and said, "Look, can you come to Dante's place for a while, please?"

"I'll be right over," I told him, and hung up. I didn't know what to make of everything, but I pulled on my jacket and rushed outside. I nearly ran the entire way to office, and threw myself on the door and barged in, "What's going on!?" I demanded.

Dante and Nero spun around like I had caught them red-handed, elbow to elbow, blocking the desk from my view.

"H-Hey, Sydney…" Dante said with a forced grin, "What brings you here?"

I was suddenly annoyed. All the way here I was imaging Dante nearly dead on the floor, or the two of them outnumbered by demons or something along those lines. But they both looked fine, in fact, they both looked _suspicious_.

I indicated lazily to Nero with a scowl and said, "I was called here. What's going on? The way you two sounded, I thought there would be a mob on you guys or you had murdered each other."

"Well, I'm _close_ to murdering this kid," Dante growled angrily at Nero, grabbing him by the collar and whispering harshly, "I told you I had it all under control!"

"Please," Nero whispered back, "Neither of us have a clue what to do!"

"Look at her!" he snapped, "Does she look old enough to know about this!?"

"Um, I can hear every word you say," I said, glaring at them, "And what don't I know—"

A sound from behind the two of them made me freeze. It started out soft, then became a desperate wail. I gasped, looking at Dante and said, "Oh God, you didn't!" before rushing forward, pushing the two of them aside.

Laying on the desk, surrounded by ripped apart disposable dippers and laying in a sea of white powder was a baby, squirming and crying as it wore a backwards dipper and its face covered in powder. It even looked like someone tried to _draw_ on it!

I glared at Dante, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW, YOU NO GOOD SON OF A BITCH!?" I shouted before taking the baby into my arms and trying to sooth it by gently bouncing it and rocking it back and forth.

"IT WASN'T ME!!" Dante snapped, pointed at Nero, "HE BROUGHT IT HERE!"

Nero glared at him, "I FOUND IT ON YOUR DOORSTEP, YOU NUMBSKULL!"

"So that automatically means it's MINE!?" Dante glared back.

"You're the one who goes to the local strip-houses like it's a doctor visit!" Nero shouted.

"Why I outta—" Dante pulled a gun and pointed it at Nero, but I picked up the broom and smacked him hard in the face (with the stick not the bristles) backing him fall to the ground, stunned as he looked up at me.

"Be quiet!" I snapped, "You're upsetting the baby!"

I turned around and dug through the piles of ripped and tattered dippers until I found one that hadn't been ruined. I properly changed the infants dipper and brushed him free of powder. "Well, it's a boy," I told them after I had wrapped it in a blanket and cradled it in my arms.

"We figured that much," Dante grumbled, leaning over to look at him, "He doesn't even look like me. He can't be mine."

"He could look like his mom," Nero said, "Which would be a good thing. What baby would want you for a dad anyway."

A vein on Dante's brow popped and he punched Nero hard in the lower-jaw, making him fly across the room, "Be quiet, you fucking bastard!" he yelled.

"You no good son of a—" Nero got up, pulling Blue Rose.

"What did I tell you two!?" I hit the both of them with the broom this time, making them freeze. "This is no way to behave in front of a infant! Now the two of you get your acts together now!"

They both muttered a "Sorry" before settling down.

We all sat down and as I made some milk for the baby to eat, Nero told his story.

"I was just passing by to give Dante an update like always on Fortuna City," Nero said, "When I found this guy in a picnic basket by the door-step. There was a letter," he reached into his coat pocket and gave it to me to read. I handed him the baby, making him falter and fumble to imitate the way I held him while I opened and read the letter.

_Please take care of your son. I'm sorry, but I can't support him anymore._

That was all there was. I glared at Dante, waving the letter at him, "You didn't use protection did you!?" I snapped.

Dante glared back, "Why is that any of your business?"

"Because, according to this, you're a _father!_" I snapped.

"Let me see that!" he snatched it away, then after reading it he said, "All this could mean is somebody's abandoning a kid on my door-step! Lord," he got to his feet and ripped it apart, "What is this? Some cheesy kid's flick!?"

The baby started to whine and cry, so I took him back, making him settle down again. Thank God all those years baby-sitting my baby cousins and others were coming in handy. "What are you going to do with him?" I asked.

"Me!?" Dante spun around.

"Whether or not you are the dad," I said, "He's still been orphaned on your property. It's up to you what happens to him now."

This seemed to take Dante by surprise. He looked at the kid, then to me, then Nero and groaned, turning away and ruffling his hair, "Shit…I can't…" he muttered, then paced. He ran a hand down his face, scratched his chin, then looked again to the baby in my arms as he finished the bottle.

"Couldn't you keep him?" he asked.

"Me?" I blinked, "What are you talking about!?"

"He likes you!" Dante said, sounding like it was a puppy, not a baby, "Couldn't you keep him?"

I glared, "I'm not old enough to be a mom, you idiot! How could I keep him? Besides, I'm not from _this world,_ remember? What happens when I leave?"

Everything fell silent for a moment, like I had said something no one knew. I was going to leave, didn't they know that? I sighed, looking at the baby again.

He looked just old enough to hold up his head, and he was pretty tiny. He had the cutest face, with thin blonde hair, and light pink skin. He was completely adorable.

"For now," I said, rocking him as he finished the bottle, "We'll just have to keep him. We can report a found child to the police, right? And if no one claims him then we can…decide from there."

Nero nodded, agreeing that would be best, but Dante still seemed a bit unsure. It would have to do for now.

--

How I kept this a secret from Trish and Lady was really a stroke of good luck. They would be gone for a few months, going to a different town called Blue Hallow. Never heard of that one in the game, but this was a whole different world. It couldn't just be two cities.

I called them and said I'd be staying at Dante's while they were gone, just in case I ran into trouble. Trish reluctantly agreed that would be best.

Really, why I was there was to play "mom". Nero and Dante were like two different Dads. While Dante was content to just take the kid off my hands and play peek-a-boo every now and then (which was actually pretty funny since he was the only one who could make the baby laugh) Nero would run back and forth and get me whatever I asked for, like milk, bottles, dippers, clothes, etc.

Dante wanted to call the baby "D.J.", or Dante Jr., but I refused to let that fly. I called him Ethan. Ethan was a very picky child. He'd cry if he wasn't being held or played with, he would only sleep if I put on some soft music for him to listen to, and he would only eat while I held him, otherwise he'd only fuss.

It was very tiring, but we got through it. The men were lucky, they got to run from the office every day, going back to Fortuna or to a mission. Me, I was stuck with Ethan. And while I was coming to love the little guy, I was pretty tired.

"Well, I'm off," Dante said with a grin and a stretch, "See you when I get home, Mama," he winked at me before heading for the door.

"Wait! Dante!" I was holding Ethan while sitting on the sofa and said, "Could you pick up some dippers and baby-wipes on your way back? I'm almost out."

"Sure, sure," Dante waved his hand as he walked out the door.

I groaned, shaking my head, _'I feel sorry for whoever becomes is wife, if this is what she'll have to deal with when he actually does have a kid…'_

Ethan cooed and played with my hair and shirt. He had blue-green eyes that were always looking at something, and he seemed to be very entrusted in Dante's weapons. Dante loved that, he would constantly, whenever I gave him the baby or turned my back, would take little Ethan over to his weapons stash and let Ethan touch and play with some of them. I caught him trying to put Cerberus into his mouth once, and nearly cut off Dante's head.

Still, after a good burp, I took Ethan upstairs to my room, where Nero had set up a cradle for him to sleep in. It was covered in light blue lace and it was beautiful with a little pocket on the side for a baby-monitor. I placed him in the cradle and turned on his musical-mobile and rocked the cradle slowly until he was sound asleep, then tip-toed out and closed the door.

I was beginning to understand the things my mother felt. I was constantly worrying about Ethan, what he could get himself into, and what other awful things could befall him. I was already praying for his good future. But on top of that…there was something about these guys.

Dante had his moments with Ethan. Like a few nights ago, I had fallen asleep after I thought Ethan would rest for a few hours. I woke up, realizing that it was almost three, and expected to hear Dante screaming for me to quiet the baby down.

Instead, I found him in his desk chair, rocking it back and forth with his head back, half asleep himself with Ethan fast asleep in his arms.

Then there was Nero. He kept running back and forth like a go-fer, but when he had the chance (and seemingly when only Dante was gone) he'd stop to play with Ethan, tickling him and making funny faces. It was hilarious to watch.

As I went down stairs and started to clean up, taking out the trash and folding baby-blankets, I thought for a moment. What would happen to these guys when I left? They'd become a video game again to me, but they were so much more than that to me know.

Of course, what girl doesn't play Devil May Cry and fall in love with Dante's witty come-backs or Nero's stubborn chivalry? But now…it was getting hard to imagine life without them…

I sighed, deciding that now wasn't the time, and was going back into the building, when something dropped in front of me. I stopped, and looked down at my feet. Sand? It was a small pile of fine sand. I looked up and my eyes grew wide. I let out a shrill scream as a demon jumped down on top of me, making me fall back against the stone steps and crack my head hard.

Pain shot up through my skull and vibrated down my spine and seemed to spazim in my toes. My last memory was of the strange, cackling laughter the demon made, and the scream of Ethan from inside.

--

**A/N: Whoot, update!! -dies- Sorry that it took so long. With school and a few other things popping up, I haven't got around to my stories lately! I'll work hard to get this one finished, because it's quickly becoming one of my favorite stories of all time!! **

**Thanks again for reading, and please review! I love hearing from you all!**

**-Alma Theresa**


	7. To Close to Insanity

**7.**

**To close to Insanity**

My head pounded like crazy. I heard my heart beat in my ears, and my breathing came in pants. I opened my eyes to a spinning, blurry world. Where was I? I was lying on the cold ground, my back ached from the rigid alignment, and I felt heavy shackles on my ankles, blistering the skin.

I groaned as I shut my eyes tight and turned my head, shielding my eyes against the dim lights with a curtain of my hair. What the hell happened?

I remembered being outside…then being attacked by a demon. Of course…I had been abducted. Perfect.

There was a sound, a creaking noise. I looked up, raising myself slightly on my arms to see a large, stone door opening. In walked a girl in white and gold, her face shadowed, but I knew who it was at once, "Kyrie!" I croaked my voice cracking and weak.

Kyrie moved slowly towards me, then knelt down. She placed a tray in front of me, and I blinked rapidly to make out her face. I held my breath. She wasn't Kyrie. I mean, she _was_, but her eyes…there was no iris, no pupil, it was just white, blank of anything…soulless. She left the tray, saying not a word, and turned away from me, walking back out of the room and the door closing with a load, echoing bang.

I looked at the tray. Food, a simple egg-salad sandwich, and a brass pitcher of water with a small cup. I narrowed my eyes. I hate egg-salad.

--

I lost track. I didn't have a watch, but it must've been at least eighteen hours I spent in there, alone. There was no light but a flickering oil-lamp that was so out-dated. After I forced down the revolting sandwich and washed it down with water, I tested the chains around my feet.

They were simple iron, at least they were rusted. When I got to the end, I could reach out with my hand, but there was at least five feet between me and the door still. It wasn't much in reality, but it felt like acres to me now.

I could reach all the other walls of the strange round room except the door. There was a pile of straw that I guess was suppose to serve as my bed, with a thread-bear wool blanket. There was also a small, covered hole in left corner or the room. It smelled vile, and I knew what it was used for. I was a captive, but I wasn't about to become a _desperate_ captive.

I didn't even know why I was here. In all the movies and video games I've seen, it's normally within a few moments of the captive waking up that the bad-guy comes in to gloat about their plan. Either this bad-guy didn't get the rule book, or video games, once again, lied to me.

I liked to pretend a lot that I was really tough-willed and minded. I mean, what person doesn't want to be the hero of their own story, right? And I was living with Dante and Nero, for God sake, I should have some back-bone, right? Well, it may have only been a day and a half or so, but I was ready to break. I was freaked out, scared, and ready to give them whatever they wanted. I'd spill all of my secrets, sell my soul, dance on my family's grave, whatever they wanted, as long as I got out of here.

I know this sounds overly dramatic, but I could _hear it_. Whispers, demonic whispers saying my name…speaking even in a voice that sounded like my mom's, or my dad's, all telling me to die. I could almost feel the darkness, almost taste the evil, and I knew right away…I was near a pathway to hell.

I sat in a corner, rocking myself back and forth, my arms wrapped around my legs with my chin between my knees. I hadn't slept, I hadn't dared to close my eyes longer than to blink, and even then I was afraid to. The smell of this place became rank, like rotting human flesh, and I swear I was going crazy, because whenever I heard a sound like dripping water echoing through a sewer drain, I pictured blood.

Something was wrong with me to. My head wouldn't stop pounding. It was like drums were beating in my head. It wasn't a heartbeat, it was like the drums you would hear when someone was being led to the gallows in the old western movies. The _thudda-thudda-thudda-tump_, like a drum roll. And it wouldn't go away. Not only that, but I constantly felt sick, _violently_ sick. I wanted to vomit at the slightest things.

Between the whispers, the drum roll, the visions, the smells…I was ready to give up. I wanted it to end, I didn't care how, I just wanted it to all go away. This was a nightmare. It was a dream for a while, with Nero and Dante protecting me, taking care of me, being my friends…but now it was a nightmare. I didn't want to stay here anymore. I wanted to wake up, I wanted to hug my mom, I wanted to hug her until my arms were sore. I'd never fight with her again, I just wanted it all to be over, so I didn't have to deal with this anymore.

I jumped as the door opened, my eyes darting over as the shell of Kyrie walked in like she did every three hours. She placed a tray in the same spot on the floor, then turned and started to walk out.

"Kyrie!" I called out, scrambling to my feet. She had stopped, and my hopes came back. Maybe she wasn't completely gone. I went over to her and stood at her side, "Kyrie, what's going on, where am I?"

"You are safe," she said in a empty, monotone voice. Then she started to walk away.

"Kyrie!" I reached out, grabbing her wrist and making her stop, "S-Safe!? Are you kidding me?! This place is horrible! I don't want to stay here! Get me out!"

"I cannot," she said, never looking back at me, "It is not as the master wishes."

"Master?" I repeated, looking at her.

"The master gives us everything," she said, "We must all love the master. You will love him too, before you are devoured."

My body froze, and I let her wrists slip from my fingers. The door closed with that same echoing sound that seemed to make the "trapped" feeling final. I fell to my knees, overturning the tray and leaving it to spill the water all across my jeans and knees.

Devoured…I was going to be eaten…

My world went black and I had the feeling of gravity as I fell to the side.

--

Three more days past. Kyrie came in, left the food, and never said a word. How did I know how many days past? Because Kyrie was prompt. Every three hours, she left food. Always a sandwich of some kind and water. Nothing else. I stopped eating after she told me I was going to be eaten myself.

I slept only when I was exhausted and passed out. I drank only water when I couldn't stand it anymore. And I cried often. I was as good as dead at this point. I'd never see home again, never see my mom or dad again. I'd never see anything again. This room began to feel like my tomb. The rotting flesh I smelled would soon be my flesh, and the blood-visions were probably of my own fate.

I wasn't sure what made me give up. I always considered myself a truly stubborn person. But this time, I didn't feel the need to fight. I was like this room sucked everything but fear, sorrow, and despair out of me.

I would use a burnt stick to draw on the walls. For a while, I was trying to count the days. But, as I looked at the walls all these days later, I realized that as far as my arms could reach were words scrawled in a strange text I didn't realize I knew. But they were the words that were whispered to me in my head now. No more threats or demands of my death, but strange language messages that I felt compelled to scribble on the walls whenever a new one crossed my mind. If a new one didn't, then I'd repeat the old one, just to try and make it go away, at least for a while.

I still rocked myself back at forth, staring at the oil-lamp that never seemed to go out. It's small, flickering flame seemed to grow dimmer though with each passing day, and I began to think that it was a symbol for my sanity. As I lost hold of that, the flame got closer and closer to going out. From what I could tell, the flame would last a day, two at the least. With the light would go whatever hold I had left on myself.

The fire…it glowed with a strange aura…it seemed almost…green…

Green…green glow…comic books…comic books…radioactive…green lightening.

My eyes opened wider, "Green Lightening!"

Suddenly, all those words I scribbled on the wall in that strange language made sense. As they flashed in front of my eyes, I saw their meanings. The Green Lightening was a sign. A symbol that mean there was a whole in the rift that kept all the different dimensions apart, so that they didn't collide together like two high-speed continents smashing into one, causing an explosion that would result in the destruction of both dimensions. Not only that, but though there were multiple, possibly hundreds of dimensions, there was only one Heaven and Hell, that was shared through them all. Sure, it was called different things, but they were all the same. The Devil had left loose something…something that was eating away the barriers that acted like retracting magnets to keep the dimensions away…

A name kept repeating in my head now, whispered harshly to me until I understood it.

"The Time-Eater!" I cried, "_The Time-Eater!!_" I screamed.

The door suddenly exploded open and I ducked down, covering my head and shoving myself as close as possible to the wall.

"Sydney!!" Nero came rushing over to me, grabbing my shoulder, "Are you okay!?"

I felt tears in my eyes. The moment the door was smashed and I heard Nero's voice, the feeling of doom and the voices and the smells, they all went away. I felt like me again…I felt light and free, even with the chains on my ankles.

"Nero!" I sobbed and collapsed into his arms, resting my brow on his chest as I cried. I sobbed loudly, nearly screaming, and he tried to comfort me, saying everything was okay now, he was here to save me. But I kept crying until my head's spinning became too much and I had to push away to vomit.

After I finished, he used his Devil Bringer to rip the chains apart, though I still had to live with the shackles on my ankles with bits of chain hanging from them. He gathered me in his arms and carried me over the rubble of the door and part of the wall that he had blown apart until we got outside

I saw that what I was in what resembled a wine cellar, and it was littered with demon bodies. With Red-Queen over his back and me in his arms, he wouldn't be able to fight, but it looked like he took care of them all already.

Nero didn't say anything as we walked around, and I rested my head against his neck and shoulder as he walked. The sound of his breathing…his pulse…the way he smelled…it made me feel at peace. I closed my eyes and, for the first time in what felt like ages, fell into a deep, comforting sleep.

--

I didn't know what woke me first, the sound of voices, or movement. I opened my eyes slowly, wanting to know where I was and what was happening. I was very aware of being in someone's arms. When I opened my eyes fully, I nearly screamed. A demon was charging at me!!

I covered my eyes just as a flash of silver and red pasted by and the demon let out a shrill sound, coupled with the slicing of its skin and the feeling of being covered in sand and dust. I heard another voice before Nero answered, "I _know_! What are _you _doing, you old fart!?"

I peeked through my fingers to see that I was still in Nero's arms, and he was struggling to protect me. He had to hold me against him so he could use his sword, but it was hard for him, since I wasn't small enough to be properly held by just one arm. When a group started to jump down on him, I didn't really think, I just acted.

With a simple movement of my legs and a push on his chest, I slipped from his arms and fell to his feet. I curled into a ball as I heard him curse and use Devil Bringer to bring all three of them down with a frustrated shout that he was famous for.

"Get up!" he demanded, grabbing my arm before pulling me behind him as he ran. I had to force my still sleepy legs to work as I struggled to keep up with him. I saw Dante not far off, defending us as we ran. We were on what looked like a street-bridge over a large river, the red-dusk sun giving the water the appearance of being filled with blood.

As we ran, I managed to force out, "What's going on!?"

"We were going to ask you that, babe!" Dante called as he appeared next to me just in time to put a bullet in the head of a demon I hadn't even notice sneak up on my other side. He grinned at me as he said, "Mine telling _us_ what's going on here? What did you do to piss these guys off?"

"I have no idea!" I answered. Nero stopped abruptly and pushed me back onto the ground, covering my body with his and wrapping his arms around my head as there was a loud explosion and I felt the entire bridge shake.

"Shit," Nero breathed, getting up and pulling me with him, "Come on! Keep running! They're trying to blow the bridge!"

My heart pounded harder as I forced my legs to go faster. I was never on the track team, I could barely make the mile in time in normal PE classes, but I was going a lot faster than I remember ever going. I guess that shows you what adrenaline and the threat of death will do to a person.

"Dante!" Nero suddenly yelled as he grabbed me, nearly throwing me to Dante, who spun me around in a fluid movement and had me on my back, holding my ankle tight until I got the message to hang on. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs tight around his waist as he darted off much faster than they had been before with me running.

I was a little disappointed that it turned out that they were holding back to keep up with me. I had thought for a moment that I had been keeping up with them pretty well. I was _dead wrong_.

It was still not enough though. I could see them now, demon birds flying over, dropping strange devices that exploded all around us. I could see the shifting of the bridge, some cars that had been abandoned long before I probably woke up began to slip and fall with chucks of concrete and wire into the water, making it splash and spray up like a geyser of dark water.

We'd never make it! I'd get them both killed! I couldn't see them die because of me! I couldn't let them die! _'Someone,_' I prayed, _'Help me!'_

A flash of green blurred my vision, and I had to blink. Only a split second later, when the world came back into view, we were on the empty, wood-lined highway on the other side of the bridge. Dante skidded to a halt, along with Nero, the two panting as they looked at each other with wide eyes.

All three of us looked back as we heard a loud, deafening crack and a loud boom. In an explosion of white and red light and the sound that reminded me of an earth-quake destroying a mountain, we watched the bridge fall into pieces into the water. I saw, with horror, that it was the bridge to Fortuna City.

"Nero…" I whispered, looking back at him.

He didn't even give me time to say anything, to offer an apology or something, before he said sharply, "We've got to keep going. There's bound to be more."

Dante dropped me from his back and Nero came over, gathering me up in his arms and holding me against his chest.

"I-I can walk," I said to him.

"Not where we're going, babe," Dante said with a grin, "You'll be a lot safer this way. Let's go, _lover-boy_," Dante said, waving for him to follow. Something about how Dante said 'lover-boy' seemed almost venomous…

Nero didn't take any notice, but I remembered, "Nero…" I grabbed his collar, "I saw Kyrie! She—"

"She's not Kyrie anymore," Nero said, not looking at me. His expression became almost annoyed, his lips pressed hard together and his eyebrows narrowed. "Kyrie's gone…just forget about it."

Sparks seemed to be flying off Nero's very skin, and I couldn't help but feel like he was ice cold now. The peace and calm and safety I felt when he saved me from the strange demon-cell I was kept in was gone…and I felt guilty. Of what, I didn't know. But I felt...I felt like his pain was my fault.

--

**A/N: I know, I know, this isn't as funny as the rest of my chapters. I promise more humor soon, how long do you think Dante can go without being his normal sarcastic self? Anyway, this chapter was really to set up the whole "bad-guy" plot thingy. Gotta get an adventure in here, y'know? ^-^**

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry to all you Kyrie/Nero fans for this chapter. I hope that you understand it's all for the good of the plot! Please keep reading and enjoy it, even though Kyrie is (technically) gone. **

**Review please! I love hearing from you all!**

**-Alma Theresa**


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